About Gigi McIntosh:Margaret McIntosh broke her neck in the spring of 1999 while riding in an event, resulting in incomplete quadriplegia. Initially paralyzed from the chest down, she is eternally grateful for having the opportunity to regain her mobility. McIntosh had extensive riding experience before her accident: 1970-1976 Working student for May and Denny Emerson; 1976-1979 Working student and barn manager for Gunnar Ostergaard and Ellin Dixon; 1979-1983 Working student/groom George Theodorescu in Sassenberg, W. Germany; From 1987 through 1999 Gigi evented several horses with lots of help from Bruce Davidson, culminating in completing the CCI*** and CCI**** at Rolex Kentucky 3-Day in 1997 and 1998. Six months after her accident she began riding with Jane Cory, the owner of the Cort Center for Therapeutic Riding at Pleasant Hollow Farm in Pleasant Valley, PA.

She initially asked Missy and Jessica Ransehousen for help just before the World Equestrian Games in 2010 and has enjoyed their expertise ever since. In 2012, McIntosh qualified for the London 2012 selection trials including successful trips at back-to-back CPEDI ***s in Wellington, FL. McIntosh was also the Reserve Champion at the 2014 USEF Para-Equestrian Dressage National Championships. Married since 1983, with two grown children (Charlotte (27) and Cameron (25)), and her husband, Brian, a retired banker. McIntosh is now aiming at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio Di Janiero with her own Rio Rio.

About Jane Cory: Jane Cory of Coopersburg, Penn., owned and managed the notable Pleasant Hollow Farms from 1970 through closing its doors in 2007. Pleasant Hollow Farms, in Coopersburg, Penn. was known in the equestrian world as the host of many prestigious dressage and combined training events including 20 competitions per year. In 1980 Cory began the Cort Center for Handicapped Riding, Inc. and was the Executive Director there. In addition to her farm and the Cort Center for Handicapped Riding, Cory was the full time instructor at Delaware Valley College from 1996 to 2004. Cory continues to be very active teaching both dressage and eventing lessons, managing Jersey Fresh International, as well as two USEA/USEF recognized horse trials held at the Horse Park of New Jersey. She also manages 2 USEF/USDF dressage shows held at the Horse Park of New Jersey and is an "r" eventing judge.

About Missy Ransehousen: Ransehousen has been involved in the equestrian world since she was a child. Growing up with an Olympic Dressage rider as a mom she knew the dedication it took to get to the top. Ransehousen was a talented Young Rider bringing home the Gold Medal in 1988. Her love for the sport would lead her to multiple wins as an Eventer. Highlights in Ransehousen's career include, representing the U.S. on the 1995 Pan American Games Team and riding at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. In 1998 Ransehousen began working in the Para-Dressage discipline leading her to be selected as the the 2000 Sydney Paralympics U.S. Team Coach. Since 2000, Ransehousen served as Chef d'Equipe over four consecutive Paralympics and the 2010 World Equestrian Games. Ransehousen is located out of Blue Hill Farm in Unionville, Pennsylvania.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

It's been several weeks since the shocking fire at Blue Hill South, and Missy is so grateful for the outpouring of support from so many people! We wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been so instrumental in getting Missy back on her feet.

Missy at Red Hills with Madeline and Laura Backus!

Of course we are so grateful to Tiffany and Brigitte for spotting the fire and rescuing Jamie (Missy's amazing dog) from the camper. Immediately after the fire the entire crew down south and up in Pennsylvania moved into action, gathering clothing, jackets and supplies to ship down to her. There were several other people who also came to get things sorted at the farm. Chris Grant, Stacey Kent, the entire crew from Blue Elephant, Alex Philpin and Clarissa Wilmerding were an immediate help getting Missy back on her feet. Cindy Torbeck, owner of the Ocala facility, has been amazing, moving Missy into the main house and offering up her car so Missy could continue to work and travel to her other clients.

The main house was turned into package central with all sorts of gifts ranging from riding clothes, equipment and boots to sneakers and workout clothes so Missy could keep up with her regular stress relieving work outs! Many people sent gift cards and made monetary donations, which were key as insurance certainly is not going to cover all of her losses.

There were sponsors and companies that sent gifts as well. Long time friend and supporter Paddy Hughes of Horse First made sure she had replacement logo gear, and the USEF sent outerwear and hats as well. A wonderful organization called The Rider's Closet, founded by Georgina Bloomberg for riders in need, sent a ton of riding clothes......and Rein Aid Productions, Dover, etc. The USPEA was integral in helping me get the word out via social media....as was Jenni Autry of Eventing Nation. There are so many to list!

Susannah Kavanaugh flew down from Pennsylvania to help Missy sort through all the items so she could properly thank all the donors. What a star!!

It's impossible to list all the generous donors who have helped with Missy's recovery, but she does want to thank everyone from the bottom of her heart. Soon she will be wrapping up her season in Ocala and traveling back to Pa. for a short stint before heading to Europe with our Para Equestrian extraordinaire Gigi McIntosh.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

The trip to Red Hills last weekend signified a positive step forward for Missy and the team at Blue Hill Farm. Thankfully the pace of running an upper level event barn allows little time for dwelling on the recent fire.....as Missy and her students were focused on a weekend of tough competition at Red Hill International.

Missy traveled down to Red Hills with Ashton Hays and Madeline Backus to train the girls in the 2* and 1* divisions.

Ashton Hays is new to BHF, starting out as a hunter/jumper rider then switching over to eventing in 2011, competed up through prelim before her previous horse tore a tendon and was retired. She purchased her current horse, London By Night, in September of 2012, and he had previously competed up to 2* with Jamue Gunyulla. Last year they went to Canada and worked for Penny Rowland before joining BHF in Ocala for this season. London's a 16.3 OTTB and they have competed up to prelim together.

Ashton on London

They were competing in the 1* this weekend and had an unfortunate parting of the ways at the water, but Ashton fully understands what they need to adjust for the next show and they're ready to a do-over!

We're also happy to have Madeline Backus back with us!! Madeline's Mom (Laura) sent her 17 year old daughter to intern at BHF the summer of 2013, and her dedication to the sport and riding talent has always impressed us. Her mother is a lifelong equestrian, with her own training business based out of Colorado. Madeline had returned home to complete high school, and work with her Mom training several of their own home breds. They have produced Madeline's current little power house, PS Arianna (Ari) and this past weekend they "wowed" us all, placing 10th in their first 2* against some of the stiffest competition in the country!! That result is even more sweet considering she has come back after nearly a 2 year hiatus due to a bad pasture injury. We can't wait to see how these two continue to grow in their riding career.

Madeline and Ari at Rocking Horse

We are also thrilled to announce that Madeline has decided to travel back to BHF in Unionville upon the conclusion of the season at the Ocala HT 2*, where she intends to make her qualifier for Young Riders. Madeline commented that she loves working with Missy because her students always come first and she is so in tune with each individual horse and rider combination, and their appropriate training program. We are so excited to have another top notch Young Rider based out of Blue Hill Farm, and we know that through Missy, Jess and David's guidance, she has a real shot at being in the top 10 there as well!

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Last Friday we organized a fundraiser for Gigi McIntosh, which was held at Canal Street Pub in Reading. The evening was co-hosted by her fundraising committee (Cindy Tomlinson, Wendy Dougherty, Jane Zintak and Lisa Thomas/Mid-Atlantic Equestrian) in combination with Jake Bausher (Canal Street) and Bill Thomas (Bills Khakis).

The evening was an overwhelming success, with friends and supporters from both Berks County and Unionville areas mingling in mutual admiration for our inspirational Para Equestrian. Jake Bausher was so kind to open up the entire back of Canal Street to accommodate our large group of supporters. We had well over 75 people in attendance who helped make the entire evening a huge success. We thank everyone who came to the event or sent a generous donation in the event they could not attend. A special thanks goes out to Lindsay McCall from the USPEA for helping promote this through her organization and managing the donation list!

We will continue to look for ways to support Gigi in her bid for making the next Paralympic Team. It is an ongoing effort and a story that needs to continue to be proliferated throughout the equestrian world and to the general public. This is a human spirit story that is meant to be heard!!

A note of reflection from Gigi:

"I was delighted to see so many old friends turn out for the fundraiser at Canal Street last Friday night and totally overwhelmed at this tremendous show of support for me and Rio! Lisa Thomas started us off and Charlotte stepped in to introduce Brian Troy, the director of the Fork in the Road documentary. Brian Flannery, personal trainer from Corps Fitness, followed by speaking to the audience about the importance of my exercise routine and how that supports my riding, and the evening wrapped up with Jessica's stirring patriot call to action on my behalf!

Thank you to Bill and Lisa Thomas, Jake Bausher and Canal Street for putting this together!
Thank you to Cindy Tomlinson, Wendy Dougherty and Jane Zintak for all their brainstorming, Pari and Simon Nurrish for helping present the movie with their hardware. The incredible success of the film would not have been possible without the talent of Brian Troy and Bethany Ditnes and Cindy Connors (producers) and of course the cast at Blue Hill Farm and Bruce Davidson's for their parts in The Fork in the Road!

I was thrilled with the last minute donations for the event and the auction from Susan Rohr of Godiva Chocolates, Adrienne Pendergast from Asolare Hair Salon, Evelyn Szczepanek of Lynn Rose Photography and Bill Thomas of Bills Khakis.

Most of all thank you to my family, Jessica, Missy, Rachel and my extended Blue Hill Farm family for all the love and support!"